Navy Recruiting and Applicant Attraction:

Navy Recruiting and Applicant Attraction: Preliminary Results Lisa Williams, MA and Line St-Pierre, PhD Director General Military Personnel Research and Analysis Presented by: Manon Mireille LeBlanc, PhD Defence Research and Development Canada Recherche et développement pour la défense Canada Canada

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Background CF recruiting CF attrition issues Chief Military Personnel priority to attract and retain Canada s best Development of new CF recruiting campaign

Background Navy recruiting and new initiatives Recruitment of Navy ypersonnel still continues to be an area of concern Increased focus on Navy recruitment Great Lakes Deployment (11 city tour) Activities iti to highlight hli ht Canadian Naval Centennial TV commercials to highlight distressed occupations Additional information needed to inform upcoming Navy recruiting strategies

Study The Navy approached the Directorate of Military Personnel Research and Analysis (DGMPRA) to conduct research that would: identify the factors that attract applicants to the Navy and the reasons why individuals may or may not apply to Navy occupations; and assess the efficacy of attraction strategies currently in place. Secondary aim: examine Navy recruits satisfaction with the recruitment process.

Method Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed in the study. Focus Groups: conducted in Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Victoria (Vancouver Island, British Columbia) with Navy recruits who had recently completed or who were awaiting naval occupational training Survey: a short survey was administered i dat tthe conclusion of each focus group to gather complementary quantitative data

Study The following data were gathered: Demographics Awareness and influence of attraction strategies (e.g., Internet site, television commercials) Influential l factors for joining i the CF/Navy (e.g., pay, career opportunities, parents, friends) Perception of the recruiting process

Sample Demographics N = 203 Percent Component Regular Force 192 94.6 Reserve Force 11 5.4 First Official Language g English 169 83.3 French 33 16.3 Gender Male 183 90.1 Female 20 9.9

Sample Demographics (cont.) Perce ent 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 less than 20 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45 and older Age of Navy Recruits

Demographics (cont.) Occupation n Percent Maritime Surface and Sub-surface (Officer) 48 23.6 Naval Electronics Technician 43 21.0 Boatswain 24 11.8 Naval Communicator 20 9.9 Naval Weapons Technician 19 9.4 Hull Technician 11 5.4 Naval Combat Systems Engineering (Officer) 7 3.4 Naval Electronic Sensor Operator 6 3.0 Marine Electrician 5 2.5 Marine Systems Engineering (Officer) 5 25 2.5 Steward 5 2.5 Logistics (Officer) 2 1.0 Marine Engineering Mechanic 2 1.0 Resource Management Clerk 2 1.0 Sonar Operator 1 0.5 Other/unclear 3 1.5

Attraction Strategies: Please indicate the extent to which h the following encouraged you to enquire about joining the CF Internet Typ pe of Adver rtising Recruiting Displays TV CF Show s Posters Movie Theatre New spaper/magazine Radio 0 20 40 60 80 100 Percent This is w hy I enquired To a large extent t Nt Not at all or to a lesser extent t

. Attraction Strategies: Please indicate the extent to which h the following encouraged you to enquire about joining the Navy Typ e of Advert isin g Internet TV Recruiting Displays CF Show s Posters Movie Theatre New spaper/magazine Radio 0 20 40 60 80 100 Percent This is w hy I enquired To a large extent Not at all or to a lesser extent

Influential factors in decision to apply to the CF/Navy Goal of study to identify why participants i t decided d to enquire about joining the CF and specifically, the Navy Asked participants to share their reasons for why they wanted to join the Navy Also interested in finding out from participants why they thought that people in the general population would want to join the Navy

Influential factors in decision to apply to the CF/Navy: Quantitative Results Career Opportunities Pay and benefits For adventure Pride in the job Sail around the world Serving your country Learning a trade/profession Education opportunities Opportunity to make a difference To do challenging work Defense of Canada/ war fighting To work on a ship For the comradeship Job security/lack of job prospects Live in different places Peacekeeping Humanitarian aid To gain discipline Lack of job opportunities Encouragement from friends/relatives 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Percent Strong to Very Strong Influence Moderate Influence No to Little Influence

Influential factors in decision to apply to the CF/Navy: Qualitative Results Similar to quantitative results Some reasons reflect attributes of the CF as a whole while other reasons relate more specifically to the Navy Examples: - to travel the world I want to work on a boat for money for financial stability/stable job to get a career for adventure for geographical stability family history Respondents provided similar answers when asked why they thought individuals in general would want to join the Navy

Influence of others on decision to enquire about the CF/Navy Family My parents were the ones who influenced me the most My mom said I could only join if I did not choose the Army. She was ok with the Navy Friends My friend was already in and told me all about it Recruiters Recruiter was same school, environment, trade

Influence of others on decision to enquire about the CF/Navy CF/Navy familiarity Close to three-quarters of recruits knew someone in the CF and, of those, a little more than half knew someone in the Navy Close to 25% of the participants grew up in a CF or Navy family

Reasons for not joining the Navy Do not want the military (Navy) lifestyle they don't want the military life they don t want the time away from home Unaware of the benefits (e.g., subsidized education, salary). Lack of media coverage even with the media, they cover what the Army does but don t cover what the Navy does unless it s a big thing. It s in the background because of Afghanistan when we do things that are just as important. CF commercials the commercials are for the people who want to fight, the way they [the commercials] are, they do not attract the more techie kids

Reasons for not joining the Navy (cont.) The CF is synonymous with Army people think that if you join the Navy, you will be sent to Afghanistan to get killed people see me in my uniform and ask if I m in the Army. Lack of knowledge/accurate information people lack information people don't know the Navy and what we do they don't know about the benefits people see me in my uniform and ask me if I am a security guard

Best Practices for CF and Navy Recruiting Employee Referral Program Internet tpresence Recruiter selection and training Streamlining the selection process

Best Practices for CF and Navy Recruiting Employee Referral Program Cost effective High quality recruits Increased retention Internet Use Important attraction tool Both official and unofficial websites are used when seeking information

Best Practices for CF and Navy Recruiting (cont.) Recruiter selection and training Face-to-face interaction ti - "The TV ads and the website are great, but eventually, you still want to talk face-to-face with a recruiter. - Not knowledgeable about the Navy occupations Streamlining the selection process Lengthy process = loss of applicants

Recommendations Improve the current recruiter selection process and training program, and build in an evaluation process Examine the feasibility of implementing an employee referral program Develop more targeted TV commercials that can appeal to: technologically or technically inclined youth; those in technical occupations; older individuals who may already have technical/technological training; and parents. Conduct research with the other environments as well as with the public to examine why they did/do not join the Navy

Recommendations (cont.) Expand and improve the use of the Internet: Use both official and unofficial forums Increase the amount and type of advertising that is done on the Internet (e.g. YouTube, social networking sites) Identify and monitor the information that is requested on the web Conduct research to stay current with the communication/entertainment media used by youth and extend advertising to those mediums. Expand outreach efforts Increase visits to all levels of schools and/or strategically visit schools in the best geographic locations

Recommendations (cont.) Examine the possibility of extending realistic job previews (e.g., Naval Officers Assessment Board) to all Navy officer recruits Engage the media to report on the Navy s missions and activities Ensure that applicants receive more accurate Navy information through hrecruiters and online on topics such as: what courses they will need to take, for how long; what to expect during basic training and after; military/navy lifestyle and life on board a ship; posting locations; salary progression, and details of sea pay; realistic amount of time away from home; and services available for families, etc

Questions? Thank you!